I decided between the 40mm and 60mm. The 40mm has the same size filter requirements as all of my other lenses and was about $400 lower in price. I have been using my 18-55mm and 55-200mm lenses for all of the photos that I have posted thus far on the forum. But, hopefully I will do better with contests and closeups henceforth.

I am curious what lenses, cameras, and equipment others use? I am really into photography and have only reccently started using my pro camera to photograph my plants.

Last edited by jnspire on Sun Apr 15, 2012 10:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I'm using a Nikon D50 with an 80-400mm telephoto lens and a 28-80mm lens for "regular" shots. I also have a set of extension tubes for really close up shots.

As soon as my tax refund gets here (Wow! I can't believe I got one of those!) I am headed to the camera store to upgrade to a Nikon D7000. And since the refund is large enough, I'm getting the 18-105 lens that comes in the kit. (Rather than just getting the camera body.) The 18-105 is faster and takes more crisp photos than the D50 with the 28-80 lens, so I'm hoping for great improvement in picture quality.

I have been drooling over this camera for months now, I can't wait!

Which camera do you attach your new lens to?

It’s not the fall that kills you; it’s the sudden stop at the end. Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)

I am currently shooting with a Nikon D60 (just noticed I never mentioned that). Your upgrade from D50 to the 7000 will be a nice one! There are a lot of improved features plus the HD video capacity is "EXCEPTIONAL" on par with higher end professional digital camcorders (priced upward of $2,500). My brother has a D90 and the video he has taken is Unbelievable!

The only reason I would upgrade from the D60 is for the video quality and some of the better lenses.

I've used a Nikon D40 since 2007 for stills. Even though its 6 megapixels I still don't see any need for a newer model yet. For lenses I have all old glass, the 28/3.5, 50/1.8, 55/3.5 micro, 135/3.5, 200/4. 95% of what I post here will be shot with the 55 micro lens. I can get shots like this with the 40 year old micro

glochids01.jpg (29.45 KiB) Viewed 2999 times

Since the D40 has no video I picked up a used Panasonic G2 for that, its pretty bland (poor) as a still camera but its pretty darn good as a "Camcorder" especially if you use the hacked firmware for full manual video controls on it. Its not the type of camera you can flip on and go, it takes a little video smarts and patience for best results. The coolest thing is that I can use my old Nikon lenses on the Panasonic with an adapter. The picture of the moon below is a still frame from 720p hd video using the Nikon 200mm lens on the Panasonic G2

I've been using my D50 since 2006. I figure I'm about 4000 clicks past the expected number of shots, and I wanted the newer optics for crisper and brighter shots. In addition to that I'm have the horrible personality that figures if I'm buying a new car it may as well have the big engine with the turbo charger, or getting a PC means newest and fastest microprocessors, so it only follows that a new camera would also have all the bells and whistles.

It’s not the fall that kills you; it’s the sudden stop at the end. Douglas Adams (1952 - 2001)

I have a Canon 400D (EOS rebel xti) with the 18-55mm kit lens and a 75-300mm zoom. Takes awesome pics, but not macro! I gave up trying to rig up for macro shots with a tripod and a bag full of gear. I find it much easier to use my pocket rocket (Canon SD1200) which takes great macro pics. Weighs less, easier to carry and i won't cry (much) if it gets a few scratches or gets broken.

I also have a very old Nikon coolpix, the one that twists/flips. Low on the megapixel chart but it takes incredible macro pics. However it eats batteries like mad.